Leading fossil fuel export
From a continental perspective, coal exports from Oceania (mostly Australia but also from New Zealand) amounted to $47 billion or 37.8% of coal’s global total. Asian exporters generated 20.6% worth, trailed by European suppliers at 15.6% then North American providers at 14.4%. Smaller percentages came from exporters in Africa (5.7%) then Latin America (5.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2701 for coal. Those digits encompass briquettes, ovoids and similar solid fuels manufactured from coal.
Coal Exports by Country
Top 15
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of coal during 2018.
- Australia: US$47 billion (37.8% of total coal exports)
- Indonesia: $20.6 billion (16.6%)
- Russia: $17 billion (13.7%)
- United States: $12.2 billion (9.8%)
- Colombia: $6.6 billion (5.3%)
- South Africa: $6.2 billion (5%)
- Canada: $5.8 billion (4.7%)
- Mongolia: $2.8 billion (2.2%)
- China: $786.8 million (0.6%)
- Mozambique: $761.6 million (0.6%)
- Poland: $722.6 million (0.6%)
- Netherlands: $696.7 million (0.6%)
- Kazakhstan: $428.2 million (0.3%)
- Vietnam: $372.4 million (0.3%)
- Czech Republic: $294.2 million (0.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.3% of global coal exports in 2018.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing coal exporters since 2014 were: Mozambique (up 58,799%), Mongolia (up 228.3%), Canada (up 53.8%) and Russia (up 46.3%).
Five top countries posted declines in their exported coal sales namely: Czech Republic (down -38.9%), Vietnam (down -31.8%), Kazakhstan (down -23.3%), Poland (down -22.7%) and Netherlands (down -19.2%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for coal during 2018. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported coal and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Australia: US$47 billion (net export surplus up 33.9% since 2014)
- Indonesia: $19.7 billion (up 7.2%)
- Russia: $16.6 billion (up 50.5%)
- United States: $11.6 billion (up 55.7%)
- Colombia: $6.6 billion (up 2.3%)
- South Africa: $5.7 billion (up 18.2%)
- Canada: $5 billion (up 61.9%)
- Mongolia: $2.8 billion (up 228.4%)
- Mozambique: $758.7 million (reversing a -$1.2 million deficit)
- Kazakhstan: $347.2 million (down -35.4%)
- Afghanistan: $178.8 million (up 1339.5%)
- Eswatini: $10.5 million (up 4.5%)
- Botswana: $10.4 million (down -26%)
- Venezuela: $10 million (down -84.7%)
- Peru: $7.5 million (reversing a -$31.8 million deficit)
Australia has the highest surplus in the international trade of coal. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Australia’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for coal during 2018. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported coal purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Japan: -US$25.4 billion (net export deficit up 28.4% since 2014)
- India: -$24.5 billion (up 50.4%)
- China: -$18.8 billion (up 3.2%)
- South Korea: -$16.5 billion (up 37.9%)
- Taiwan: -$8.1 billion (up 34.3%)
- Germany: -$5.6 billion (up 2.1%)
- Turkey: -$4.4 billion (up 434.5%)
- Brazil: -$3.4 billion (up 46.6%)
- Malaysia: -$3.2 billion (up 104.1%)
- Ukraine: -$3 billion (up 142.6%)
- France: -$2 billion (up 20.7%)
- Netherlands: -$1.9 billion (up 37.3%)
- Italy: -$1.8 billion (down -4.8%)
- Thailand: -$1.63 billion (up 12.3%)
- Pakistan: -$1.62 billion (up 246.5%)
Japan incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of coal, modestly ahead of four other Asian countries. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Japan’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for coal-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Companies
Coal Exporting Companies
Below are global coal-processing conglomerates that represent established players engaged in the international trade of coal. The home country for each is shown within parenthesis.
- BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (Australia)
- Bumi Resources (Indonesia)
- China Kingho Group (China)
- DSM (Netherlands)
- Exxaro Resources (South Africa)
- Kompania Węglowa (Poland)
- Peabody Energy (United States)
- Pioneer Coal Limited (Canada)
- Siberian Coal Energy Company (Russia)
- SouthGobi Resources (Mongolia)
Searchable List of All Coal Exporting Countries in 2018
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below.
| Rank | Exporter | Coal Exports (US$) | %World Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Australia | $47,035,387,000 | 37.8% |
| 2. | Indonesia | $20,634,196,000 | 16.6% |
| 3. | Russia | $17,030,973,000 | 13.7% |
| 4. | United States | $12,152,206,000 | 9.8% |
| 5. | Colombia | $6,576,500,000 | 5.3% |
| 6. | South Africa | $6,238,250,000 | 5% |
| 7. | Canada | $5,794,565,000 | 4.7% |
| 8. | Mongolia | $2,786,222,000 | 2.2% |
| 9. | China | $786,776,000 | 0.6% |
| 10. | Mozambique | $761,561,000 | 0.6% |
| 11. | Poland | $722,639,000 | 0.6% |
| 12. | Netherlands | $696,701,000 | 0.6% |
| 13. | Kazakhstan | $428,244,000 | 0.3% |
| 14. | Vietnam | $372,432,000 | 0.3% |
| 15. | Czech Republic | $294,163,000 | 0.2% |
| 16. | Philippines | $281,013,000 | 0.2% |
| 17. | Belgium | $236,905,000 | 0.2% |
| 18. | Afghanistan | $178,780,000 | 0.1% |
| 19. | United Kingdom | $124,258,000 | 0.1% |
| 20. | India | $94,436,000 | 0.1% |
| 21. | Belarus | $75,121,000 | 0.1% |
| 22. | Germany | $45,996,000 | 0.04% |
| 23. | Peru | $45,497,000 | 0.04% |
| 24. | Spain | $39,406,000 | 0.03% |
| 25. | Ireland | $33,358,000 | 0.03% |
| 26. | Egypt | $28,724,000 | 0.02% |
| 27. | Malaysia | $28,058,000 | 0.02% |
| 28. | Slovakia | $23,699,000 | 0.02% |
| 29. | Croatia | $18,619,000 | 0.01% |
| 30. | Eswatini | $18,334,000 | 0.01% |
| 31. | Thailand | $15,457,000 | 0.01% |
| 32. | Chile | $15,202,000 | 0.01% |
| 33. | Iran | $12,881,000 | 0.01% |
| 34. | Venezuela | $11,229,000 | 0.01% |
| 35. | Lithuania | $11,220,000 | 0.01% |
| 36. | Kyrgyzstan | $11,031,000 | 0.01% |
| 37. | Botswana | $10,661,000 | 0.01% |
| 38. | Turkey | $10,116,000 | 0.01% |
| 39. | France | $8,937,000 | 0.01% |
| 40. | Ukraine | $8,651,000 | 0.01% |
| 41. | Italy | $8,130,000 | 0.01% |
| 42. | Kuwait | $5,948,000 | 0.005% |
| 43. | Tanzania | $3,968,000 | 0.003% |
| 44. | Japan | $3,946,000 | 0.003% |
| 45. | Zimbabwe | $3,753,000 | 0.003% |
| 46. | Greece | $2,720,000 | 0.002% |
| 47. | New Zealand | $2,440,000 | 0.002% |
| 48. | Bulgaria | $1,823,000 | 0.001% |
| 49. | Mexico | $1,413,000 | 0.001% |
| 50. | Latvia | $1,338,000 | 0.001% |
| 51. | South Korea | $1,328,000 | 0.001% |
| 52. | Tajikistan | $975,000 | 0.001% |
| 53. | Taiwan | $973,000 | 0.001% |
| 54. | Laos | $865,000 | 0.001% |
| 55. | Slovenia | $764,000 | 0.001% |
| 56. | Austria | $664,000 | 0.001% |
| 57. | Denmark | $655,000 | 0.001% |
| 58. | Portugal | $595,000 | 0.0005% |
| 59. | Nigeria | $526,000 | 0.0004% |
| 60. | Singapore | $481,000 | 0.0004% |
| 61. | Kenya | $425,000 | 0.0003% |
| 62. | Hungary | $400,000 | 0.0003% |
| 63. | Argentina | $394,000 | 0.0003% |
| 64. | Zambia | $359,000 | 0.0003% |
| 65. | Brazil | $352,000 | 0.0003% |
| 66. | United Arab Emirates | $313,000 | 0.0003% |
| 67. | Sweden | $299,000 | 0.0002% |
| 68. | Namibia | $220,000 | 0.0002% |
| 69. | Georgia | $185,000 | 0.0001% |
| 70. | Bhutan | $182,000 | 0.0001% |
| 71. | Serbia | $139,000 | 0.0001% |
| 72. | North Macedonia | $129,000 | 0.0001% |
| 73. | Saudi Arabia | $124,000 | 0.0001% |
| 74. | Lebanon | $88,000 | 0.0001% |
| 75. | Bangladesh | $43,000 | 0.00003% |
| 76. | Romania | $42,000 | 0.00003% |
| 77. | Uganda | $35,000 | 0.00003% |
| 78. | Finland | $16,000 | 0.00001% |
| 79. | Central African Rep. | $15,000 | 0.00001% |
| 80. | Switzerland | $14,000 | 0.00001% |
| 81. | British Virgin Islands | $12,000 | 0.00001% |
| 82. | Moldova | $11,000 | 0.00001% |
| 83. | US Minor Outlying Is. | $5,000 | 0.000004% |
| 84. | Uzbekistan | $5,000 | 0.000004% |
| 85. | Cuba | $5,000 | 0.000004% |
| 86. | Jordan | $5,000 | 0.000004% |
| 87. | Luxembourg | $4,000 | 0.000003% |
| 88. | Brunei Darussalam | $4,000 | 0.000003% |
| 89. | Ghana | $3,000 | 0.000002% |
| 90. | Oman | $3,000 | 0.000002% |
| 91. | Israel | $2,000 | 0.000002% |
| 92. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $2,000 | 0.000002% |
| 93. | Ivory Coast | $1,000 | 0.000001% |
| 94. | Honduras | $1,000 | 0.000001% |
| 95. | Saint Lucia | $1,000 | 0.000001% |
See also Crude Oil Imports by Country, Crude Oil Exports by Country and Petroleum Gas Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on July 27, 2019
The World Factbook, Field Listing: Exports – Commodities, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on May 1, 2019
Wikipedia, Category: Coal companies by country. Accessed on July 27, 2019
Wikipedia, Coal. Accessed on May 1, 2019
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